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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 2018)
8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2018 Asylum: Final night is set for Halloween from 5 to 9 p.m. Continued from Page 1A Throughout the first floor of the house, the backyard and a detached garage, the couple intricately arrange a collec- tion of around 1,200 children’s toys into various scenes both horrific and humorous. Their inspiration comes from the dolls themselves, pop culture and other vestiges from their love of Halloween. “I’m into vintage, 1930s, creepy, original Bela Lugosi Dracula movies,” Loutzen- hiser said. “That’s my love of Halloween, is all very vintage stuff. Mark was very much the full-on gore, zombies, skel- etons, that kind of stuff. We have creepy, vintage, gory stuff, so I think it all kind of goes together.” Williams grew up in a very religious family that he said frowned upon Hallow- een. When he did get to trick or treat, Williams would see the people who went all out on their decorations and said he grew up wanting to do the same. The couple, who both work from home in electronic medi- cal records, had bought a new house in north Portland about a decade ago and were think- ing of a theme for their Hal- loween decorations. Williams was leaving to take a friend to the airport when he was fright- ened by a doll in his rearview mirror leaned up against a tree. “It scared the crap out of him, and it was super creepy,” Loutzenhiser said. “And we just went, ‘that’s it.’” The couple started amass- ing a collection of dolls from Photos by Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian Mark Williams and Heidi Loutzenhiser, pictured with their dolls, from left, Clover and Eu- nice, arrange around 1,200 children’s toys into horrific and humorous exhibits each Hal- loween. See more photos of their doll asylum online at DailyAstorian.com local thrift stores and dec- orated the stairwell inside their house for a party, which soon attracted trick-or-treat- ers passing by. The next year, they held an open house and hosted droves of people com- ing to see their ever-expanding collection. Over a seven-year run, the Doll Asylum became a staple of Portland, featured in multi- ple newspapers and on televi- sion stations, gathering inter- national attention. People started dropping off dolls at the house, both original and adul- terated, to add to the collec- tion. Some come regularly to see how their donations have been incorporated. The couple moved to Asto- ria two years ago to care for Loutzenhiser’s father, who, along with her late mother, was raised in Seaside. The move also helped the couple escape a growing Port- land, where their Doll Asylum could attract several thousand people. The final straw came one night when a large group of Burning Man attendees showed up on a bus, blocking the street and setting up a mari- achi band inside their house unannounced, Williams said. After spending their first year in town fixing up the house, the couple hope to become more involved in the community, volunteering with the Astoria Riverfront Trolley and the Liberty Theatre. Some of their displays have taken on a local theme, such as a Blind Pirate concert scene in their backyard paying homage to locally connected band Blind Pilot. In the coming years, the couple plan to unveil more North Coast-themed exhib- its like the trolley, cannibalis- tic sea lions, shipwrecks and a Mark Williams’ and Heidi Loutzenhiser’s Doll Asylum in- cludes around 1,200 children’s toys, along with some taxi- dermied animals, arranged into elaborate exhibits. Finnish sauna. Aside from Halloween and Thanksgiving dinner, the cou- ple go all out for Christmas with a private display of orna- ments, German smokers and music boxes inherited from prior generations. They do nothing for the other holidays, Loutzenhiser said. “Before the first open house, both of us are like, ‘Oh, my God, we’re never doing this again,’” she said. “But then after an hour of being open, we’re like, ‘Oh, that’s right; this is why we do it.’ Because everybody that comes is so nice. It’s a great way to meet our neighbors.” The final night of the Doll Asylum is from 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at 1188 Harrison Ave. Crew: Coast Guard rescued more than 10,500 people Quakes: ‘People are Continued from Page 1A include astronaut Buzz Aldrin, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and U.S. Sen. John McCain. “It’s a little surreal,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Alli- son Dowell, an avionics elec- trical technician. “It’s kind of one of those things everybody jokes about when you’re going out on a case, like, ‘Oh, this is going to be the Air Medal.’” Dowell has been in the Coast Guard for six years, but was only certified for hurricane response seven weeks before Harvey. “There are people that go 20 years without getting, you know, a good operation hoist, so it was such an honor to be chosen to go do that,” Dowell said. The medal recipients also included Lt. Tripp Haas, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Rapp and Petty Officer 2nd Class Dan Wilson. Haas was a pilot, first nav- igating hurricane-force winds Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Members of the Coast Guard were recognized Monday for their contributions to rescue efforts during Hurricane Harvey. and then, after the storm sub- sided, heavy air traffic. Pilots used tricky landings, includ- ing one on a highway, and hov- ered near large objects, such as a downed power pole. His crew’s rescues included two women who were in labor. Haas recalls the vast num- ber of people who needed help. The Coast Guard rescued more than 10,500 people during the hurricane, which killed dozens. “If I could have had an unlimited amount of gas and an unlimited amount of time, we could have done that for two or three days straight,” Haas said. Wilson, a rescue swimmer, saved 30 people from heav- ily polluted water and assisted 59 more. One rescue involved a 400-pound man trapped in the upstairs part of a house. Wilson got the man out of the home and moved him about 200 feet away before waving for a helicopter. In addition to the woman whose face he remembers dis- tinctly, Murphy’s crew rescued five other elderly people. “To get the award, to get the level of the award, is certainly special,” Murphy said, “but anybody would have done it if they were in our shoes.” OREGON CAPITAL INSIDER Get the inside scoop on state government and politics! WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Friends and Family Come Celebrate John Kalander’s Birthday Saturday November 3 rd •1-3 PM Suomi Hall 244 W. Marine Dr., Astoria thinking about the reality of earthquake hazards more’ Continued from Page 1A media has changed in recent years, Roeloffs said. Most calls or inquiries are usually timed when earthquakes hit in clus- ters. But public education sur- rounding the 9.0 earthquake expected to rock the Casca- dia Subduction Zone appears to have played a role in the increase of calls or reports. “After one of the earth- quakes near Vancouver, 169 people entered a submission to our website to say they felt something,” she said. “It’s good, because I think people are thinking about the reality of earthquake hazards more.” Horning hopes, if any- thing, the recent quakes have reminded North Coast resi- dents that the Big One could come anytime. “This activity should not encourage people to be less alarmed or more alarmed,” Horning said. “You should always be a certain amount of alarmed living here … and you should always be prepared.” Come Trick-or-Treat at Clatsop Care! The residents of Clatsop Care will be passing out treats from 3-5pm on Halloween Day. 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